Words starting with M

194 words.

• mabinogi A Welsh mythological tale; sometimes extended to include similar tales of medieval European traditio
• macerate To soften (something) or separate it into pieces by (or as if by) soaking it in a heated or unheated
• machicolation An opening between corbels that support a projecting parapet, or in the floor of a gallery or the ro
• machinate To devise a plot or secret plan; to conspire.
• maelstrom A large and violent whirlpool.
• maffick To celebrate a victory in a boisterous manner.
• magilla Something large or elaborate.
• magnality A great or wonderful thing; a marvel.
• magnetar A neutron star or pulsar with an extremely powerful magnetic field, especially those on which starqu
• magnific Magnificent, splendid; illustrious.
• magniloquent Using pompous speech; speaking with deliberately long or esoteric words.
• magnoperate To magnify the greatness of (someone or something); to exalt.
• magslip Any of a variety of devices that rely on magnetic slip rings to drive a transmitter and receiver tha
• magus A magician; (derogatory) a conjurer or sorcerer, especially one who is a charlatan or trickster.
• maidan A marketplace or other open space in or by a city or town; an esplanade.
• maiding A young woman; representing a mispronunciation of the word maiden.
• mainor The act or fact, especially of theft.
• maizypop Popcorn (snack food), especially with molasses.
• makeless Matchless, without equal, peerless.
• makeunder A makeover in which the quality, flashiness or value of something is downgraded.
• malapert Cheeky, impudent, saucy.
• malaphor An idiom blend: an error in which two similar figures of speech are merged, producing an often nonse
• malapropism The blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar-sounding on
• malarkey Nonsense; rubbish.
• malcontent To cause discontent or dissatisfaction.
• malefice An evil deed; evilness; enchantment or sorcery.
• maltalent Ill will; malice, malevolence.
• malversation Corrupt behaviour, illegitimate activity, especially by someone in authority.
• malveuille To disrespect. To wish ill on someone.
• mampus finished, wiped out, kaput.
• mancheel A covered hammock litter developed in southwest India.
• mandrel A round object used as an aid for shaping a material, e.g. shaping or enlarging a ring, or bending o
• manducate To chew (something); to masticate.
• manes The souls or spirits of dead ancestors, conceived as deities or the subjects of reverence, or of oth
• mangonize To make (something) appear more attractive or appealing.
• manifer A large gauntlet worn over the bridle hand during jousting tournaments.
• maniple A division of the Roman army numbering 120 (or sometimes 60) soldiers exclusive of officers; (genera
• manoxylic Sparse, with much pith and cortex, and having wide parenchymatous rays.
• manred Vassals collectively; the men a feudal lord can call upon in wartime.
• manrent A contract, usually military and between Scottish clans, in which a weaker man or clan pledged to se
• manswear To swear falsely; perjure oneself.
• manubial Taken as or relating to the spoils of war; funded from the spoils of war (especially in the Roman Em
• manutention Maintenance, upkeep of a person, place or thing.
• marabunta Any of several large wasps known for their painful stings: — Polistes infuscatus
• mareel Seafire, phosphorescence on the ocean, especially around the Shetland Islands.
• margarodite A hydrous potash mica related to muscovite.
• marginalia Notes in the margin of a document.
• marline A light all-purpose cord commonly used to bind the end of a larger rope, to prevent fraying.
• marmoreal Resembling marble or a marble statue; cold, smooth, white, etc.; marblelike.
• martinet A strict disciplinarian.
• mashrabiyya A balcony in North Africa enclosed with carved wooden latticework.
• masscult The modern industrial equivalent of culture, mass-produced and anonymously consumed, without special
• mathesis Mental calculation or discipline; science, especially mathematical learning.
• mathom A trinket or piece of bric-a-brac; a knick-knack, often used in regifting.
• matinal In the morning, relating to the morning.
• matriotism School, hometown, or parish pride or loyalty, as opposed to nationalism or patriotism.
• maturative Tending to promote maturation or progress.
• maugre Notwithstanding, despite everything.
• mazarinade A scurrilous anti-governmental pamphlet published in mid-seventeenth-century France.
• mealtide The tide or time when one receives their part, portion, or measure of food; the hour for a meal; mea
• mediety The middle part; half; moiety.
• medize To side with the Persians; to be loyal to the Persian Empire rather than Greeks.
• megaduke The commander-in-chief of the Byzantine navy.
• megalography The depiction of great or grand things, such as heroes and gods; painting on a large scale
• megalophonous Strident or pompous in expression; vociferous.
• megaron The rectangular great hall in a Mycenaean building, usually supported with pillars.
• megrim A headache; a migraine.
• meliorism The view or doctrine that the world can be improved through human effort (often understood as an int
• melisma A passage of several notes sung to one syllable of text.
• melomaniac One with an abnormal fondness of music; a person who loves music.
• memorate an oral narrative from memory relating a personal experience, especially the precursor of a legend.
• mendacity The fact or condition of being untruthful; dishonesty.
• menology The study of months; the names and system of months within a given calendar.
• mense Property, owndom; possessions.
• mensuration The act or process of measuring; measurement.
• mentalese A hypothetical non-verbal language in which concepts are represented in the mind.
• mephitic Foul-smelling or noxious, particularly of a gas or atmosphere.
• meronym A term used to denote a thing that is a part of something else.
• merse Alluvial, often marshy land by the side of a river, estuary or sea.
• mesail The visor of a helmet, especially when made in two parts.
• mesology The study of the mutual interrelationships between organisms and their environment; branch of biolog
• metallifacture The production and manufacture of metals.
• metanoia A fundamental change of mind.
• metaphrase A literal, word-for-word translation.
• metempsychosis Transmigration of the soul, especially its reincarnation after death.
• metheglin A spiced mead, originally from Wales.
• mether A communal drinking vessel used in Gaelic times for drinking mead. It had squared sides and one dran
• metoposcopy The practice of judging someone's character, or telling their fortune, from studying their face or f
• metramorphosis A creative principle supposed to be responsible for changes in borderlines.
• metroplex A large metropolitan area containing several cities and their suburbs.
• micher One who goes sneaking about for dishonest or improper purposes; one who skulks, or keeps out of sigh
• micronova A stellar outburst about one millionth the strength of a classical nova.
• micropatriology The study of micronations and micronationalism.
• micropatrology The study of microstates; sovereign countries with very small populations, land areas, or both.
• microraion A residential complex in a current or former communist country, chiefly one which was previously par
• middelmannetjie A ridge between ruts made by wheels in a dirt or gravel road.
• mightly Mighty; competent; capable; strong; powerful.
• mihaffa Various forms of covered animal-borne litters, chiefly for female passengers.
• mimiamb A short humorous dramatic scene in verse.
• mimophant A person with extreme social self-centered double standards, especially about personal feelings.
• minatory Threatening, menacing.
• minenwerfer A type of trench mortar used by German forces especially during the First World War, or the shells f
• mingy Mean, miserly, stingy.
• minhibbakji In the Arab World, a loyalist
• miniate To paint or tinge with red lead or vermilion, or with red letters, as in a manuscript.
• miniver A light gray or white fur used to trim the robes of judges or state executives, also used in medieva
• minorative That diminishes or attenuates
• mirative A grammatical mood that expresses (surprise at) unexpected revelations or new information.
• mirific Working wonders; wonderful.
• mirorder A taxonomic ranking just below grandorder and above order.
• misaccount to account badly, wrongfully, or in error
• misadventure A fatal mishap, especially one voluntarily risked by the victim, bad luck causing an accidental deat
• misbeget To beget wrongly or badly. — To produce children from an illicit or inappropriate union, especially
• misbelieve To believe incorrectly; hold to a false belief.
• misdeem To misjudge, to deem wrongly.
• misericord Relaxation of monastic rules.
• misfall To befall badly or incorrectly; happen unfortunately (to); mishappen; turn out badly.
• misgreet To greet wrongly; (by extension) to affront or insult
• mishappen To encounter grief or misfortune.
• mishave To misbehave or misconduct (oneself); do wrong.
• mishold A wrong, bad, or faulty hold.
• mishope To fail to hope (in); hope amiss; lose hope; despair.
• misinfographic An infographic that shows false or misleading information or information that can be misunderstood.
• misogelast One who hates laughter.
• misoneism The distrust or hatred of new ideas or things.
• misopogon A person with hate or contempt for beards.
• misprision Criminal neglect or wrongful execution of duty, especially by a public official; (countable) a speci
• misproud Unduly or unwarrantably proud or vain; wrongly proud; arrogant; haughty.
• misthanasia The premature death of a vulnerable human due to a failure to provide appropriate help in the contex
• mittimus A warrant issued for someone to be taken into custody.
• mixtion The act or process of mixing; the state of being mixed or becoming mixed; a mixture.
• mochy Damp and hot; muggy, close.
• mocudrama A television program, movie, or play presented as if it were a docudrama, but that is not factual be
• modus The arrangement of, or mode of expressing, the terms of a contract or conveyance.
• mofussil Originally, the regions of India outside the three East India Company capitals of Bombay, Calcutta a
• mohurrer A clerk or writer in a native language.
• moirail A soulmate or life partner, especially one who exerts a calming influence.
• mojibake Corrupt characters or letters, especially resulting from being displayed or transferred through an i
• molybdomancy divination by interpreting shapes formed when molten metal, typically lead or tin, is dropped into w
• momently From moment to moment; continually.
• monadnock A hill or mountain standing isolated above a predominantly flat plain.
• moniment Something to preserve memory; a reminder or a monument.
• monimolimnion The lower, dense stratum of a meromictic lake (one with permanently stratified layers) that does not
• monomania Excessive interest or concentration on a singular object or subject.
• monomath A person with an extensive knowledge of a single subject or field, but little knowledge of others.
• monophonous Able to produce only one sound at a time.
• monopsony A market situation in which there is only one buyer for a product.
• monopteros A classical temple made up of one circle of columns supporting a roof.
• monoptote A noun which only occurs in one case.
• monsterful Rare; extraordinary; marvelous
• monumentous monumental; very large or important
• moochin A difficult or disagreeable person, especially a child.
• mordacious Biting, causing a physical bite or sting; corrosive
• morefold Plurality; multiplicity.
• morfound To affect (an animal or person) with catarrh or coldlike illness.
• morigeration Servile acquiescence; unqualified sycophancy towards a bully or a tyrant.
• morion A kind of open brimmed helmet used by footsoldiers in the 16th and 17th centuries, having no visor o
• mortmain The perpetual, inalienable possession of lands by a corporation or non-personal entity such as a chu
• mosey To set off, get going; to start a journey.
• motory Causing or setting up motion.
• mouldwarp A mole, Talpa europaea.
• mounture The angle at which a gun is raised for firing.
• mournival In the game of gleek, and other card games, a set of four cards of the same face value.
• mouseburger A woman of no particular intellect or attractiveness.
• mousquetaire A musketeer, especially one of the French royal musketeers of the 17th and 18th centuries, famed for
• mozzetta A short cape covering the shoulders and buttoned in front, with a hood, which is worn by the pope, c
• mugwump A (male) leader; an important (male) person.
• muhassil A senior public official under the Ottoman Empire charged with tax collection.
• mujik A Russian (male) peasant.
• mulct A fine or penalty, especially a pecuniary one.
• muleta A red flag used by bullfighters.
• muliebrity The state or quality of being a woman; the features of a woman's nature; femininity, womanhood.
• multangular Either of two bones in the wrist
• multiferous Bearing or producing much or many; fruitful.
• multitudinous Existing in multitudes or great numbers; very numerous; innumerable.
• multure A grinding of grain, or the grain that is ground.
• mumchance Mute, or not speaking; silent.
• mummery Mumming; disguising oneself to perform as a mummer, or to take part in some other festivities or per
• mundialization An ideology based on the solidarity and diversity of global citizens and the creation of supranation
• mundungus Offal; waste animal product; organic matter unfit for consumption.
• murage A tax paid for building or repairing the walls of a fortified town.
• muricate covered with short rough points or studs
• murrain Used as an intensifier: extremely, very.
• musard A dreamer; an absent-minded person.
• muset A small hole or gap through which a wild animal passes; a muse.
• mussitate To say (words, etc.) indistinctly; to mutter.
• mussuck an inflated skin-bag for water, variously said to be made from goats, from cows or from dogs, often
• mustachio A mustache, especially a large or lush one.
• mutuation An act of borrowing or exchanging.
• mycterism A subtle or scornful jibe.
• myriorama A picture made up of several smaller pictures, drawn upon separate cards so that they can be combine
• myroblyte A saint whose relics or place of burial are said to have produced the Oil of Saints ("an aromatic li
• mystagogue A person who prepares an initiate for entry into a mystery cult, or who teaches mystical doctrines.
• mythopoeic Giving rise to myths; pertaining to the creation of myth.